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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211099">A Bidding War for an Old Friends' Grief</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/idioticfangirl/pseuds/idioticfangirl'>idioticfangirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fantober 2020 (The Cherry Pie Series) [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arguments, Cold, Drunkenness, F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, Guilt, Hangover, Intervention, M/M, Pining, Post-Break Up Sadness, Worry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:01:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/idioticfangirl/pseuds/idioticfangirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo knocked on the door, yawning as he leant on the wall next to it.  A backpack, full of a random assortment of things, was slung over his shoulder, and he checked his phone idly as he waited for someone to answer.</p><p>It didn’t take long for the door to swing open, and Jason was there, blinking at Leo in confusion.  “Leo?”</p><p>“Hey, man.”  Leo took a deep breath, the sight of Jason still enough to throw him off balance.  “Can I stay over yours tonight?”</p><p>“If this is another intervention, go away.” </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Leo hasn't seen a lot of Jason since Piper left him.  Not for lack of trying, but every time he tries to help him Jason shuts him out.  Missing him, and kicked out of his room by Hazel coming over, Leo is surprised when Jason allows him to stay the night.  So he hatches a plan to get Jason to let him in again, hoping that Jason won't be mad.</p><p> </p><p>Written for Fantober Day 5 - Sleepovers</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Leo Valdez, Jason Grace/Piper McLean (Past)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fantober 2020 (The Cherry Pie Series) [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Bidding War for an Old Friends' Grief</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am still doing these but I got super busy so it won't be one a day</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo knocked on the door, yawning as he leant on the wall next to it.  A backpack, full of a random assortment of things, was slung over his shoulder, and he checked his phone idly as he waited for someone to answer.</p><p>It didn’t take long for the door to swing open, and Jason was there, blinking at Leo in confusion.  “Leo?”</p><p>“Hey, man.”  Leo took a deep breath, the sight of Jason still enough to throw him off balance.  “Can I stay over yours tonight?”</p><p>“If this is another intervention, go away.” Jason moved to close the door again, and Leo lunged forwards, stopping it with his foot.  “Leo, I’m being serious.”</p><p>“So am I.  Hazel’s staying over tonight, so I thought I’d give her and Frank some privacy.  Well, less I thought that and more Frank asked me to leave, so I grabbed some shit and left.  But,” he shifted from his left foot to his right, but Jason didn’t shut the door any further, “I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”  Leo raked his hand through his hair, not used to having to beg Jason for something as simple as a place to stay.  “So, can I stay at yours tonight?”</p><p>“Fine,” Jason opened the door, and Leo peered into the gloom.  “It’s messy though.  Watch your feet.”</p><p>“Do you ever turn the lights on anymore?” Leo tried to pick his way across a floor he could barely see, “Or tidy?”</p><p>Jason shrugged, or Leo assumed he did from the noises of fabric rustling.  “What’s the point?”</p><p>“Come on, man.  I know it’s been tough, but you’ve got to - fuck!” He stubbed his toe on something sharp.</p><p>“Shut up or get out.  I said I don’t want any interventions.” </p><p>“I didn’t mean - I hit my foot -”  Leo blushed and babbled his way through an apology.</p><p>“Just don’t mention it.”</p><p>“Sure, dude.” Jason had navigated his way to the lightswitch, and Leo surveyed the carnage of his room in silence.  “So, what do you want to do tonight?  We could watch movies, or have a games night, like old times?   Man, it’s been ages!” Leo sighed wistfully, but Jason shrugged again, unbothered.</p><p>“I’m gonna sleep soon.” Jason frowned at the floor, something like recognition flickering in his eyes.  “I should clean up, or you won’t have anywhere to sleep.”</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Leo sighed.  “I can do it.”</p><p>“Sure.” </p><p>Leo clicked his tongue.  He hated awkward silences, even more so when it was with someone he had no right feeling so awkward with.  But Jason seemed in no mood to fix it, falling immediately onto his bed and staring morosely at his phone.   He didn’t even react when Leo busied himself cleaning, washing up plates and cups, throwing away old pizza boxes and going so far as to vacuum the carpet.</p><p>Then, the room tidy and Jason already snoring, Leo spread a sheet over the couch and fell asleep.  </p><p> </p><p>The next morning he left before Jason woke up, leaving a note thanking him for his hospitality, and immediately scheduled an emergency meeting with the rest of the group.</p><p>“We have to do something about Jason,” he announced, slamming his hand down on the table of the cafe they had met at.  “He’s a mess.”</p><p>“We’ve tried.” Frank reminded him gently, “He won’t listen.”</p><p>“He has to!  His room was so bad I had to clean it, and he didn’t talk to me at all the whole time I was there!”</p><p>“So now that it’s affecting you we have to try harder?” Annabeth’s words were cynical, and hurt Leo in a way that he didn’t expect, so he sighed, softening his voice.</p><p>“I’ve never seen him like that.  I’ve known him for ages, as long as Piper.” He spat the name with a surprising amount of venom.  “He’s never been like that.” His reminder that he had known Jason the longest, like a kind of claim to the right to be worried about him, quieted Annabeth, and he turned to the others.  “What do we do?”</p><p>“We tried forcing him out of his room, and we tried telling him we were worried and wanted to help,” Percy mused, “what else is there, really?  He hated being crowded and when it’s one on one he just...shuts down.”</p><p>“He let Leo in his room, though.  And let him tidy up.”</p><p>“I had nowhere else to go,” Leo reminded Hazel, who had the good grace to blush.  “And he couldn’t be bothered to talk to me to tell me to stop tidying.  Plus I literally couldn’t see the sofa I was meant to be sleeping on.”</p><p>“It’s a start, though.” Percy suggested, looking at Leo thoughtfully.  “I think Hazel should stay over at Frank’s tonight, too.”</p><p>“I have coursework!” She protested, and Percy rolled his eyes.  </p><p>“For Jason’s health, Hazel, surely you can suck it up and spend one night with your boyfriend?”</p><p> </p><p>So Leo found himself knocking on Jason’s door for the second night in a row.  He was pleased, when the door opened, to see that the room hadn’t been completely trashed in the few hours it had been since he tidied it, but less pleased to see the frown on Jason’s face.  “Again?” He demanded.</p><p>“Yeah,” Leo rubbed the back of his neck.  “Sorry?”</p><p>“Come in,” Jason pinched the bridge of his nose.  “I guess I should say thanks for cleaning up yesterday.  You didn’t have to.” The second sentence was a lot quieter, and Leo could tell that Jason knew he did have to.  </p><p>“No worries,” he chose not to push it.  “I came more prepared this time.” He rummaged in his bag, pulling out random packets and cases.  “I brought snacks!  And games!”</p><p>“Leo, I’m not in the mood.  I’m letting you stay the night to sleep.”</p><p>“But it’s seven,” Leo protested, testing the waters, “have you eaten yet?  We could order pizza!”</p><p>“I said I’m not in the mood, Leo.  Will you just drop it already?”</p><p>“But I miss you,” Leo found himself saying quietly, wondering as he did so if this was coming on too strong, if it would get him kicked out.  But then Jason was looking at him, and there was something in it that seemed almost like the way he used to look at Leo, fond exasperation rather than harsh isolation, and Leo allowed himself to hope.  </p><p>“I haven’t eaten.” Jason said finally, breaking off eye contact with the hint of a blush on his cheeks.  Leo cleared his throat, looking away.  “Pizza would be fine.”</p><p>“I’ll order,” Leo pulled his phone out, dropping onto the couch in a practised motion.  “The usual?”</p><p>“I missed you too,” Jason replied firmly, out of nowhere, completely ignoring Leo’s question.  “I just couldn’t be around you guys.  It hurt too much.  It still hurts too much.” Leo saw the tears in his eyes and braced himself, wishing that it could have been anyone else, knowing that it had to be him.  “I loved her!  I really thought she loved me back, didn’t you?  Didn’t it seem like it?  Is there anything so wrong with being together since high school?”  Leo remembered with a jolt of still-fresh pain how in love they had seemed, how Jason’s world had revolved around her.  He shook his head to clear an emotion that felt too much like jealousy.</p><p>“Jason, man,” Leo scratched the back of his head, “I’m really sorry for what happened.  For what it’s worth, I know she really cared about you, you just wanted different things.  It’ll get easier?” Jason was blinking fast, and Leo put his hand hesitantly on Jason’s back, beginning to rub small circles into it, feeling so bad for enjoying the touch even as Jason wished it was someone else’s.  “You know I’m shit at this comforting thing, but I’m here for you.  We’re all here for you.  Whenever you’re ready.  Whatever you need.  Even if you just want us to play games with you, or listen to you rant, or anything.  Just...please,” he shut his eyes, feeling panic start to drain away from him.  “Please talk to us.  We’re worried about you.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Jason absently leant back into Leo’s touch, and Leo fought back the smallest smile.  “I didn’t mean to.  I know you meant well.  I couldn’t deal with you all pushing me, talking to me about it, when I wanted to be alone.  I mean, I only let you in because I had to.” He laughed, like it was a joke, but Leo felt a sudden lump of guilt, fighting to keep his hand steady.  “I would’ve let you in eventually, I just needed time.”</p><p>“Do you still?” This was the moment, Leo decided.  If Jason still needed time he would say that he was staying somewhere else, that he didn’t want to push, and he could go and he didn’t have to feel like shit just for wanting to be around his own best friend.  For feeling a small thrill when he had been told that Jason and Piper were over.  For wanting, even if he could never get.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Jason sighed, and Leo bit his lip to keep from groaning aloud.  “I mean, I definitely don’t want you not to have anywhere to stay tonight.  But after that,” he scrubbed a hand over his face, “I might need more time.  But I know you guys are there for me.” He smiled at Leo, fake though it was, and Leo felt like he wanted the floor to open up beneath him.</p><p>“Jason, dude, I need to -”</p><p>“Enough about that,” Jason decided, the final nail in Leo’s coffin.  “Let’s have pizza!”</p><p> </p><p>It was all Leo could do to struggle through a night that should have been perfect.  They had junk food and played games, at one point Jason even smiled at him!  It was so close to old times that he could almost taste it.  But that just made it hurt more.  The way Jason sniffled occasionally, the silent moments that stretched out longer than he remembered, and the guilt clawing its way up his throat fought to make it awful, and when he finally fell onto the couch to sleep, the “success” that he sent to the ‘Intervention Group Chat’ felt like a lie.</p><p> </p><p>When he woke up, Jason was standing over Leo, face unreadable in a way that it hadn’t been since the seconds after Piper had left him.  Leo frowned, shifting to sit up, feeling off-kilter and not sure why.  </p><p>“Wha -” he looked down and saw Jason gripping his phone, so tightly Leo was afraid it might break.  “Jason -”</p><p>“Your phone kept buzzing.” Jason’s voice was hard, set, and Leo cringed.  “I thought you might be missing a lecture so I checked.  Intervention Group Chat?” Leo pulled back, shrinking into the sofa as though it could absorb his guilt.  “Success?  Good work Leo, Hazel and Frank?”  Leo shut his eyes, wishing to make it all disappear.  “So what?  You invited Hazel round, pretended to be kicked out, because you knew I was too nice not to let you in?  You pretended to be there for me no matter what, but it was all a lie for your stupid interventions?  What the hell, Leo?  I trusted you!  You’re just as bad as -” he cut himself off, but it wasn’t hard for Leo to fill in.</p><p>“I swear it wasn’t like that.  Hazel really did kick me out the night before.  But I got to see you!  We hadn’t in so long.  And your place was a mess, and you didn’t talk, and we were honestly just worried about you, Jason!  I would never make you talk I just wanted to let you know that you had us, whatever you wanted, but we were so worried you have to understand we were just worried.”  He knew he was babbling, but it didn’t matter, nothing mattered except stopping Jason from looking at him like that.</p><p>“If my room is too messy for you you can just get out.” </p><p>“Please -”</p><p>“No, Leo.  Get out.  I mean it.  Don’t come back.”</p><p>“Jason -”</p><p>“You lied to me, Leo.  You didn’t care if I wanted to see you.  You didn’t care how I felt.”</p><p>“I did!  I did, I do, I care about that, Jason -”</p><p>“Just get out.  Leave me alone, Leo.  That’s all I want from you.”</p><p>Leo did.</p><p> </p><p>He drafted the message to ‘Intervention Group Chat’ seven times before sending a quick, “Jason saw the chat.  He’s not happy with me.  Probably won’t forgive me.  Probably deserve it.” Then he left the chat and, checking the time (10 am), went in search of a bar.</p><p> </p><p>Leo could hold his drink.  He was small, but practised in such things, and after many embarrassing nights where Jason carried him home bridal style while he threw up and apologised and sang simultaneously, Leo had begun to know his limits, gently push them to build his tolerance up.</p><p>But by 10pm of drinking, with a few forced stops and food in the middle by the bartender who insisted he didn’t drink himself to death right at the bar, he knew he had blasted through his tolerance hours ago.  Probably around the time he started regaling a random other solo drinker with his life story, all centring around the idea that Jason now hated him.  When that man had moved on, he switched sides, until eventually the barman had told him to stop harassing customers or get out.</p><p>So he carried on drinking in silence, mulling over his thoughts until it felt like they were eating him.  The idea that Jason, who had been a constant through so much of his life, now hated him was almost unthinkable.  He tried to imagine surviving his disastrous breakups, his awful high school years and his unbearable adoptive family without Jason, but he couldn’t.  Jason was, quite literally, the only reason he had made it.  And now, what?  He’d betrayed him in the one time Jason actually needed him instead of Piper?  The one time he didn’t need to third wheel, he could have been enough for Jason on his own, and he blew it.</p><p>Tears streaming down his face, Leo ordered another shot.</p><p> </p><p>The bar closed at midnight, and Leo stumbled out of his seat, the room swaying dangerously.  He felt someone’s hand on his shoulder as though from miles away as they helped him out of the bar and onto the street.  Blinking in the harsh streetlight, Leo checked his phone, shaking it to try and make it turn on faster.</p><p>The only thing that showed up was an out-of-battery sign.  He tried to think back, to see if he had called Frank and said where he was, Percy perhaps, even Nico would do at this point, but he didn’t remember having an actual conversation with anyone.  Just hanging up on their calls.</p><p>That was okay, he decided with the unwarranted confidence of a drunken idiot, he’d just have to walk home.  He stared at the street signs, wondering exactly when someone had replaced the English writing with ancient Greek, and how on earth anyone else was managing to use them to navigate.  He tried to think back on his steps, retrace his way from Jason’s - and the name still hurt even when he didn’t have the brain power to know why - to here, but all he remembered was wandering at random, desperately needing a drink.</p><p>“Excuse me,” he called to the one other person on the road - and how had everyone else disappeared? - but she crossed the street in a hurry, and he had the good sense not to try to follow her.  </p><p>“Alone,” he muttered as he sat down, leaning against a brick wall he had no recollection of walking to and hoping that someone would walk by, “figures.”</p><p>It could have been five or seventy-five minutes into sitting there that he realised it was absolutely freezing.  His whole body hurt from clenching against the cold, and he thought he could taste blood, barely visible over the aftertaste of tequila, from biting his tongue as his teeth chattered.  “Move,” he decided, stumbling to his feet and immediately pitching over, barely saving his head from hitting the wall.   Then he started walking, letting his feet take over while his brain remained blissfully numb.</p><p>The telephone box was lit up by a streetlight, as though sent by the gods, and Leo rushed towards it, almost tripping over his feet in his haste.  He fished through his pockets, pulling the last of his change out, and then stared at the keypad in defeat.  </p><p>There was only one number he knew well enough to get right, even in this state.  But he didn’t want to call it.</p><p>Another violent set of shivers made up his mind for him, and he sighed, punching in the number and praying to every god there could ever be that it would be picked up.</p><p>“Hello?” Jason’s voice was thick with sleep, but also laced with excitement.  A call from an unknown number - Leo winced, knowing what Jason was hoping and not ready to dash it.</p><p>“Please don’t hang up.” He knew he was slurring, needed this to get across, “I’m begging you I don’t know where I am so please don’t hang up.”</p><p>“Leo?” There was a thud, the unmistakable sound of a head hitting a pillow.  “I told you to go away.  Why the hell are you calling me at - what do you mean?”</p><p>“I know you hate me.  I deserve it.  I do too.  Hate me, I mean.  I get it.  It’s fine.” Leo frowned, wondering why he was saying this.  “Rambling.”</p><p>“Get to the point, Leo.” Jason’s voice was sharp, far more awake than it had been before.  “What the hell do you mean you don’t know where you are?”</p><p>“I’m drunk,” Leo announced, as though that wasn’t painfully obvious.  “And my phone is dead and I’m lost and it’s really fucking cold.  Like, really cold.  I know your number off by heart.” He remembered, suddenly, why he had been on his original tangent, and continued.  “I know you hate me, and I hate me too, and we can have a hate me party whenever you want.  But can you call one of the others to pick me up, please?  I don’t want to freeze to death in a phone booth.  That’s like, in my bottom twenty-eight ways to die.”</p><p>“What phone booth?”</p><p>“Do they have names?  I think we should give them names.  This one definitely feels like a Jerry.  Tell them Jerry.”</p><p>“What do you see outside?”  There were rustling noises now, and Leo felt an acute panic from somewhere in his body - possibly his liver, which was not having a good day.</p><p>“No!  No you’re not meant to come, I don’t want to annoy you, I shouldn’t have waked you up, I can stay here tonight, please don’t hate me more!” His finger hovered over the hang-up button, so cold it refused to bend to hit it.</p><p>“Leo don’t you dare hang up!”  </p><p>Leo stopped, obeying Jason almost on instinct.  “‘M here.”</p><p>“Jesus,” Jason let out a slow breath, “Leo.  Tell me what you see.”</p><p>Leo squinted, describing the surroundings in painfully slow detail, until Jason said, “Got it!  Okay, that’s a - how the hell did you get there?”</p><p>“Too far?” Leo nodded, knowing Jason couldn’t see him.  “Okay.  ‘S okay.  Go back to sleep.  I don’t wanna be -”</p><p>“Leo, I swear to God you’re not spending the night in a phone booth on the other side of town. I just want to get you home.  You’re not that far away.  I’ll come and get you.”</p><p>“But you hate me!” Leo whined plaintively, “Get one of the others, I’ll hate me tomorrow when I realise I ruined it.”</p><p>“I don’t hate you,” there was a slamming noise, too loud even through the phone, and Leo jerked back,  “and do you really think I could just go back to sleep and hope that someone comes to get you before you pass out and freeze?  Just stay in the phone booth, okay, I’ll bring you home.”  There was a beeping noise, and it took Leo a few seconds to realise it came from the phone and not inside his own head.  “The call’s almost finished, Leo.  Stay in the phone booth.  Please.”</p><p>“I don’t wanna be on my own,” Leo gritted his teeth.  “‘S too cold.  Stay.”</p><p>“I can’t stay on the call, Leo.” Jason’s voice was softer now, even as his rhythmic breathing showed he was running.  “I have to go.  I promise I’ll be there as soon as I can.  Stay awake.  For me?”</p><p>Leo sunk down in the phone booth as his call was forcibly disconnected, staring at the floor and wishing his heart would beat at a normal pace.  His vision began to blur, darkness spinning at the edges, but he took deep breaths, willing it back, needing to do what Jason had asked.  Maybe if he stayed awake Jason would be proud, wouldn’t hate him so much.</p><p> </p><p>He had entered some kind of trance when a knock at the door of the phone booth shocked him into jolting back, slamming his head against the glass wall.  “Leo?  Fuck, Leo, are you awake?” </p><p>Leo struggled to his feet, throwing open the door.  “Jason!”  Even seeing him fixed some of the ache in his chest, and it could have been Leo’s imagination or it could have stopped the world spinning quite so much.</p><p>Jason caught him instinctively as Leo dived forwards into a messy hug, wrapping his arms protectively around Leo before pulling back suddenly.  Leo whined at the swift removal of warmth.  “Leo, you’re freezing!” He pressed hands frantically against Leo’s cheeks, arms, forehead.  “Why the hell aren’t you wearing a jacket?” He began to pull off his own.</p><p>“Wasn’t cold this morning.”  Leo tried to fight back, but was in no place to argue against the warm coat that was draped over his shoulders, and as the cold seeped out of him a little he didn’t want to.</p><p>“This morning?” Jason stopped, staring at him, and then there was something in his eyes, something that could have been panic or guilt or understanding.  “You’ve been drinking since you left mine?  How much?”</p><p>“Not that much,” Leo frowned, “bartender kept cutting me off.  And giving me chips.”</p><p>“I’m gonna tip him so much,” Jason breathed, steadying Leo with an arm around his shoulders as they prepared for the walk back.  “I’m gonna write him a damn check for $300 and say it’s for stopping my idiot best friend drinking himself to death because of something stupid I said.”</p><p>“You called me your best friend!” It was like the world opened up into something good again, and Leo grinned stupidly at Jason.</p><p>“You’ve been my best friend for years,” Jason sighed, “it’s not going to stop because I’m in a bad mood.”</p><p>“You’ve never kicked me out before,” Leo whined petulantly, wondering as he did so if he was pushing it, annoying Jason out of the guilt he seemed to feel.</p><p>“You don’t normally turn up under false pretenses,” Jason reminded Leo, and he winced, ducking his head sharply and regretting it as the world swam in front of him.  When he looked up again, though, at the dark night sky and the bright dots of stars and Jason, brighter and more beautiful than all of it put together, Jason was smiling softly.  “I understand why, though.  I do.”</p><p>They walked in silence for a while longer, Leo stumbling and almost entirely held up by Jason, before Jason said, “Percy came to see me today.”</p><p>“Did you get in a fight?”</p><p>“Not exactly.  He told me off.”</p><p>“Told you off?” Leo tried to imagine Percy schooling Jason, but his blurry mind couldn’t come up with the images.  “For what?”</p><p>“All of it.” Jason looked at Leo, holding his eyes, and Leo blushed in spite of himself.  “How you were worried about me, how I was being an idiot, and that I’d upset you.  He said I was being an idiot again and said I was letting her ruin my life.  It was...harsh,” he raised his eyebrows, “and upsetting.  But necessary.  I would’ve forgiven you soon, Leo, you know that?”</p><p>“It didn’t seem like it.” Leo muttered.  He was tired, now, almost tripping over his own feet, and he felt Jason pull him tighter, hold him up more.  He shut his eyes and leaned his head on Jason’s shoulder, trying to help but mostly allowing himself to be carried along to Jason’s room.  </p><p>He vaguely recalled arguing with Jason, trying to crawl to the sofa as Jason repeatedly told him to sleep on his bed, and then he was asleep.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>He noticed three things in quick succession when he woke up.  The first, which made little sense to him, was ‘Jason won the argument’.  The second was ‘god my head hurts’.  And the third, which made him shoot to sit upright in the bed no matter how much his stomach protested, was ‘I’m in Jason’s room’.</p><p>“Hey,” there was a hand at his shoulder, gently pushing him back onto the bed.  “You haven’t been asleep long.  Do you want some water?”  Leo made a noise that the figure must have taken as a yes, because a cold glass was pressed into his hand.  He drank gratefully, prepared to drain the glass before it was cruelly taken from him, and the voice chided, “You’ll make yourself sick.”</p><p>“Feel sick anyway.” Leo grumbled, and the voice laughed.  The water had woken his senses enough for Leo to quickly remember his original problem - he was in Jason’s room.  In Jason’s bed.  In - he looked down - Jason’s clothes.  “‘M sorry.  I should leave.”</p><p>“Leo.” Jason was smiling down at him.  “You don’t have to be sorry.  You should stay.”</p><p>Leo groaned, embarrassing memories of last night washing over him at the same time as a wave of nausea did so, but he fought down the sickness, even if he couldn’t fight down the blush at his own stupid actions.  “Gods, I’m so sorry.”</p><p>“Why?” Jason seemed genuinely confused.</p><p>“I woke you up in the middle of the night when you were made at me because I was a sad drunk mess that thought you hated me.  And you still let me sleep in your bed.”</p><p>“And made you breakfast.” Jason announced, and now that he had said it Leo could definitely smell food.  “Bacon and pancakes, and some of those small cherry pies.” It brought back memories of every other drinking session with Jason, always a far happier affair with drinking games and laughter, before falling asleep in a heap and waking up, hungover and wanting greasy food.</p><p>“And made me breakfast.” Leo thumped his head back on the pillow.  “I don’t deserve you.”</p><p>“You’ve been a good friend, Leo.”</p><p>“Not really,” Leo muttered darkly.  </p><p>“You have, Leo.  You cared about me when I didn’t care about myself.  You never gave up on me no matter how much I pushed you away.  You spent so much of last night just telling me that it’s not my fault, that you don’t blame me for anything, that you’re just glad I like you!  What kind of best friend makes you happy to be liked?”</p><p>“Jason.” The feelings of guilt, strengthening every the second since Jason and Piper broke up, were too much for Leo.  “Jason, I haven’t been good to you.  I was happy you two broke up.” He felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes.  “You were so sad and I was, I was glad.”</p><p>“Glad that I was unhappy?” Leo heard the pain in Jason’s voice, even if he couldn’t look up to see it in his face for fear of losing control over the tears.</p><p>“No!  Not that, never that.  Just...happy you were broken up.”</p><p>“You didn’t like Piper?”</p><p>“Of course I did.  She was beautiful and funny and she made you so happy.  Happier than I could have made you, probably.  But I just wanted a chance.” He gritted his teeth.  “I thought maybe, when you’d broken up, you’d see me.”</p><p>“I always see you, Leo.” Jason was trying to wipe away his tears, but Leo jerked his head back. </p><p>“Not in the way I wanted.  Not in the way I saw you, Jason, I loved you.  And you loved her.  Even now you’re broken up you still love her and hate me.  Even the ghost of her pushed me away.”  Leo sighed, bracing himself to be yelled at, to be told to get out and never come back.  He wondered idly if he could leave fast enough to get to keep the clothes he had slept in, one last memento that smelled like Jason and reminded him of Jason’s kindness before he ruined it for himself.</p><p>When Jason reached over Leo was sure he was going to hit him.  But instead, gently, ever so gently, Jason swiped the tears on Leo’s cheeks off with his thumb.  Leo risked a glance up, and Jason was looking at him in a way he never had before, a way that Leo had dreamt of.</p><p>“I do see you, Leo.” Jason whispered, hand moving now to cup his cheek.  “I always saw you.”  He moved forwards, lips brushing against Leo’s, and when Leo tilted his head up in response, in permission, Jason pressed their lips together.  It was short, and sweet, and everything Leo wanted.</p><p>Jason pulled away, but not far, resting his forehead against Leo’s.  “It still hurts, a bit.” He said, and Leo felt his heart sink.  “But I want to try.  I think we should try.  I think this will work.”</p><p>“Let’s try, then.” Leo agreed eagerly, heart and mind and soul soaring.  He could barely feel the ache in his head. </p><p>“Perfect.” Jason smiled, before pulling back, leaving Leo feeling cold in his absence.  “Now then, pancakes?”</p><p>Sitting in Jason’s bed, wearing Jason’s clothes, eating food that Jason had cooked and feeling the ghost of Jason’s lips on his, Leo couldn’t be happier.</p>
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